Union Budget 2015-16 Practice MCQs

1. In the Union Budget 2015-16, rate of Service Tax was hiked from 12.36% to ____.

(1) 13%

(2) 14%

(3) 15%

(4) 14.5%

(5) None of these

2. In the Union Budget 2015-16, Fiscal deficit seen at how much per cent of GDP in 2015/16?

(1) 3.9 %

(2) 4.1 %

(3) 4.5%

(4) 5%

(5) None of these

3. How much amount has been allocated to the Rural Infrastructure Development Bank in the Union Budget 2015-16?

(1) Rs. 5,300 crore

(2) Rs.35,700 crore

(3) Rs. 25,00 crore

(4) Rs. 70,000 crore

(5) Rs. 46,200 crore

4. According to the Union Budget 2015-16, two new IIM will be opened in which of the following states?

(1) Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab

(2) Andhra Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh

(3) Assam and Andhra Pradesh

(4) Jammu & Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh 

(5) None of these

5. According to the Union Budget 2015-16, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) registered with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) above _______ will be now considered as financial institutions?

(1) Rs. 10,000 crore

(2) Rs. 5,000 crore

(3) Rs. 2000 crore

(4) Rs. 1000 crore

(5) Rs. 500 crore

6. How much amount has been allocated for Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in the Union Budget 2015-16?

 (1) 448.70 billion rupees

(2) 552.12 billion rupees

(3) 346.99 billion rupees

(4) 213.57 billion rupees

(5) 129.99 billion rupees

7. How much amount has been allocated to Defence sector in the Union Budget 2015-16?

(1) Rs. 2,46,726 crore

(2) Rs. 4,35,627 crore

(3) Rs. 3,25,925 crore

(4) Rs. 5,16,636 crore

(5) None of these

8. According to the Union Budget, how much per cent of Revenue Deficit to be seen in 2015-16?

(1) 3.1%

(2) 2.8%

(3) 2.75%

(4) 1.3%

(5) None of these

9. According to the Union Budget 2015-16, how much per cent, rate of corporate tax will be reduced over next four years?

(1) 35%

(2) 30%

(3) 25%

(4) 20%

(5) 15%

10. According to the Union Budget 2015-16, now details of PAN has to mentioned compulsory for transactions for more than _____.

(1) Rs. 1 lakh

(2) Rs. 2 lakh

(3) Rs. 50,000

(4) Rs. 60,000

(5) None of these

11. In the Union Budget 2015-16, increase in the limit of health insurance premium from current Rs 15,000 to ____.

(1) Rs. 20,000

(2) Rs. 25,000

(3) Rs. 35,000

(4) Rs. 30,000

(5) Rs. 18,000

12. How much amount has been allocated for micro-irrigation watershed projects in the Union Budget 2015-16?

(1) Rs. 4,500 Crore

(2) Rs. 3,300 Crore

(3) Rs. 5,300 Crore

(4) Rs. 6,200 Crore

(5) Rs. 2,700 Crore

13. How much amount has been allocated to Infrastructure sector in the Union Budget 2015-16?

(1) Rs. 1 Lakh crore

(2) Rs. 80,000 crore

(3) Rs 50,000 crore

(4) Rs. 70,000 crore

(5) None of these

14. According to the Union Budget 2015-16, Visa on arrival for how many countries?

(1) 100

(2) 150

(3) 200

(4) 50

(5) 75

15. According to the Union Budget 2015-16, Centre of film production, animation and gaming to come up in _____.

(1) Maharashtra

(2) Uttar Pradesh

(3) Kerala

(4) Arunachal Pradesh

(5) New Delhi

Answers:

 1 (2)   2 (1)    3 (3)   4 (4)    5 (2)

 6 (3)    7 (1)    8 (2)   9 (3)    10 (1)

 11 (2)   12 (3)   13 (4)  14 (2)  15 (4)

Heads of Important Offices in India

Mr. Narendra Modi : Chairman, National Institution for Transforming India (Niti Aayog)
Mrs. Sumitra Mahajan : Speaker, Lok Sabha.
Mohammad Hamid Ansari : Chairman, Rajya Sabha.
Mr. P. J. Kurien : Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha.
Mr. Arun Jaitley : Leader of House (Rajya Sabha).
Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad : Leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha).
Mr. Arvind Panagariya : Vice-Chairman, National Institution for Transforming India (Niti Aayog)
Mr. Harishankar Brahma : Chief Election Commissioner.
Syed Nasim Zaidi : Election Commissioner.
Mr. Shashi Kant Sharma : Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.
Mr. Justice K. G. Balakrishnan : Chairperson, National Human Right Commission (NHRC)
Mr. Ajit Kumar Seth : Cabinet Secretary.
Mr. Nripendra Misra : Principal Secretary to Prime Minister.
Justice V. Eshwaraiah : Chairman, National Commission for Backward Classes.
Ms. Shanta Sinha : Chairperson, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)
Dr. P. L. Punia : Chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Castes
Dr.Rameshwar Oraon : Chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST).
Mr. Deepak Gupta : Chairman, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
Dr. M. S. Swaminathan : Chairman, National Commission on Farmers (NCF).
Mr. Ajit Kumar Doval : National Security Adviser and Special Adviser to PM (Internal Security).
Mr. Sharad Kumar : Director-General, National Investigation Agency (NIA)
Mr. A. K. Mital : Chairman, Railway Board.
Mr. Shumsher K. Sheriff : Secretary-General, Rajya Sabha
Mr. T. K. Viswanathan : Secretary-General, Lok Sabha.
Mr. Dineshwar Sharma : Director, Intelligence Bureau (IB).
Mr. Anil Kumar Sinha : Director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Mr. Rajinder Khanna : Director, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
Mr. Jayanto Narayan Choudhury : Director-General, National Security Guard (NSG).
Mr. Prakash Mishra : Director-General, CRPF.
Mr. Devendra Kumar Pathak : Director-General, Border Security Force (BSF).
Mr. Arvind Ranjan : Director-General, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
Mr. P. K. Mehta : Director-General, Railway Protection Force. (RPF)
Mr. Parkash Mishra : Director-General, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
Mr. B. D. Sharma : Director-General, Sashastra Seema Bal.
Vice-Admiral Anurag G. Thapliyal : Director-General, Indian Coast Guard.
Lt. Gen. Avtar Singh : Director-General, Defence Intelligence Agency.
Prof. Ved Prakash : Chairman, UGC.
Dr. Avinash Chander : Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and Secretary, Defence Research and Development Organisation. (DRDO)
Dr. R. Chidambaram : Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government.
Mr. A. S. Kiran Kumar : Chairman, Space Commission and ISRO.
Mr. Ratan Kumar Sinha : Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Dept. of Atomic Energy.
Mr. Naseem Ahmad : Chairperson, National Commission for Minorities.
Mr. Amitava Bhattacharya : Chairman, Staff Selection Commission (SSC).
Dr. Vishwa Mohan Katoch : Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research.
Mr. C. Chandramouli : Registrar-General of India and Census Commissioner.
Justice D. K. Jain : Chairman, Law Commission.
Dr. B. N. Suresh : President, Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE).
Mr. Justice (Retd.) B. N. Kirpal : Chairman, National Forest Commission.
Mr. T. Nanda Kumar : Chairperson, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).
Lt. General AT Parnaik : Director-General, Border Roads Organisation.
Dr. Raghuram Rajan : Governor, RBI.
Justice Mr. Chandramauli Kumar Prasad : Chairman, Press Council of India.
Mr. Ravindra Pisharody : Chairman, Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC).
Mr. R. K. Tewari : Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
Mrs. J.M. Shanti Sundharam : Chairman, Central Board of Excise and Customs.
Mr. Ashok Chawla : Competition Commission of India
Justice Syed Rafat Alam : Chairman, Central Administrative Tribunal
Mr. R.S.T. Sai : CMD, National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC).
Mr. R. S. Sharma : CMD, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
Mr. B. C. Tripathi : CMD, GAIL.
Mr. S. Behuria : Chairman, IOC.
Mr. Sunil Kumar Srivastava : CMD, Oil India Ltd.
Dr. Satbir Bedi : Chairperson, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
Mr. U. K. Sinha : Chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
Dr. Harsh Kumar Bhanwala : Chairman, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
Smt. Arundhati Bhattacharya : Chairman, SBI.
Mr. M. S. Raghavan : Chairman, IDBI.
Justice Dilip Raosaheb Deshmukh : Chairman, Company Law Board.
Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri : India's Permanent Representative to UN.
Mr. S. K. Roy : Chairman, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC)
Mr. Ashwin Pandya : Chairman, Central Water Commission.
Ms. Lalitha Kumarmangalam : Chairperson, National Commission for Women.
Dr. Y. V. Reddy: Chairman, 14th Finance Commission.
Dr. Pronob Sen : Chairman, National Statistical Commission.
Mr. Pahlaj Nihalani : Chairperson, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
Dr. Rakesh Tewari : Director-General, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Dr. Jyotsna Suri : President, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)
Dr. Rahul Khullar : Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). 
Dr. Rajan Katoch : Director, Enforcement Directorate.
Mr. R. V. Verma : Chairman, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).
Dr. Sekhar Basu : Director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.
Mr. N. Ramachandran : President, Indian Olympic Association.
Prof. B.K.Tripathi : Acting Director, National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
Mr. Ajay S. Shriram : President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). 
Dr. A. Surya Prakash : Chairman, Prasar Bharti Board.
Mr. Ratan Tata : Chairman, Investment Commission.
Mr. Jagmohan Dalmiya : Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Mr. R. Chandrasekaran : Chairman, NASSCOM.
Mr. Ramesh Sippy : Chairman, National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).
Mr. Ravindra Kumar: Chairman, United News of India.
Mr. Mahendra Mohan Gupta : Chairman, PTI.
Mr. Kiran B. Vadodaria : President, Indian Newspaper Society (INS).
Mr. Rana Kapoor : President, The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). 

Union Budget 2015-16 Highlights

Union Budget 2015-16 Highlights:
- Arun Jaitley leaves North Block with finance ministry officials for Lok sabha.
- Finance Minister Arun Jaitley begins General Budget 2015-16 speech in Loksabha.

 TAXATION
1. Abolition of Wealth Tax.
2. Additional 2% surcharge for the super rich with income of over Rs. 1 crore.
3. Rate of corporate tax to be reduced to 25% over next four years.
4. No change in tax slabs.
5. Total exemption of up to Rs. 4,44,200 can be achieved.
6. 100% exemption for contribution to Swachch Bharat, apart from CSR.
7. Service tax increased to14 percent.

AGRICULTURE
1. Rs. 25,000 crore for Rural Infrastructure Development Bank.
2. Rs. 5,300 crore to support Micro Irrigation Programme.
3. Farmers credit - target of 8.5 lakh crore.

INFRASTRUCTURE
1. Rs. 70,000 crores to Infrastructure sector.
2. Tax-free bonds for projects in rail road and irrigation
3. PPP model for infrastructure development to be revitalised and govt. to bear majority of the risk.
4. Atal Innovation Mission to be established to draw on expertise of entrepreneurs, and researchers to foster scientific innovations; allocation of Rs. 150 crore.
5. Govt. proposes to set up 5 ultra mega power projects, each of 4000MW.

EDUCATION
1. AIIMS in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Assam.
2. IIT in Karnataka; Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad to be upgraded to IIT.
3. PG institute of Horticulture in Amritsar.
4. Kerala to have University of Disability Studies
5. Centre of film production, animation and gaming to come up in Arunachal Pradesh.
6. IIM for Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh.

DEFENCE
1. Allocation of Rs. 2,46,726 crore; an increase of 9.87 per cent over last year.
2. Focus on Make in India for quick manufacturing of Defence equipment.

WELFARE SCHEMES
1. GST and JAM trinity (Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and Mobile) to improve quality of life and to pass benefits to common man.
2. Six crore toilets across the country under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
3. MUDRA bank will refinance micro finance orgs. to encourage first generation SC/ST entrepreneurs.
4. Housing for all by 2020.
5. Upgradation 80,000 secondary schools.
6. DBT will be further be expanded from 1 crore to 10.3 crore.
7. For the Atal Pension Yojana, govt. will contribute 50% of the premium limited to Rs. 1,000 a year.
8. New scheme for physical aids and assisted living devices for people aged over 80 .
9. Govt. to use Rs. 9,000 crore unclaimed funds in PPF/EPF for Senior Citizens Fund.
10. Rs. 5,000 crore additional allocation for MGNREGA.
11. Govt. to create universal social security system for all Indians.

RENEWABLE ENERGY
1. Rs. 75 crore for electric cars production.
2. Renewable energy target for 2022: 100K MW in solar; 60K MW in wind; 10K MW in biomass and 5K MW in small hydro

TOURISM
1. Develpoment schemes for churches and convents in old Goa; Hampi, Elephanta caves, Forests of Rajasthan, Leh palace, Varanasi , Jallianwala Bagh, Qutb Shahi tombs at Hyderabad to be under the new toursim scheme.
2. Visa on Arrival for 150 countries.

GOLD
1. Sovereign Gold Bond, as an alternative to purchasing metal gold.
2. New scheme for depositors of gold to earn interest and jewellers to obtain loans on their metal accounts.
3. To develop an Indian gold voin, which will carry the Ashok Chakra on its face, to reduce the demand for foreign coins and recycle the gold available in the country.

FINANCIAL SECTOR
1. Forward Markets Commission to be merged with the Securities and Exchange Board of India
2. NBFCs registered with the RBI and having asset size of Rs 500 crore and above to be considered as ‘financial institution’ under Sarfaesi Act, 2002, enabling them to fund SME and mid-corporate businesses
3. Permanent Establishment norms to be modified to that mere presence of offshore fund managers in the country does not lead to “adverse tax consequences.”

Economic Survey of India 2014-15: Highlights

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely on 27 February 2015 presented Economic Survey of India 2014-15 in the Parliament. 

The Economic Survey reviews the developments in the Indian economy over the previous 12 months, summarises the performance on major development programmes and highlights the policy initiatives of the government and the prospects of the economy in the short to medium term.

Three pronged strategy suggested in Economic Survey 2014-15

• To improve the investment climate and reduce the backlog of stalled projects, Economic Survey 2014-15 suggested a three-pronged strategy, namely
• Revival of public investment in short term, to act as an engine of growth in infrastructure sector. It argues that public investment cannot be a substitute for private investment; but is required as a complement and to crowd it in.
• Need of creative solutions to strengthen institutions relating to bankruptcy. This will ensure that exit options are available. This will also ameliorate over-indebtedness that lowers the capacity to generate new investments. Towards this end, it contemplates setting up of a high-powered Independent Renegotiation Committee.
• Economic Survey highlights the need for reorientation and restructuring of the PPP model. This is expected to make them more viable in future.

Main Highlights of the Economic Survey 2014-15

General Highlights

• Using the new estimate for 2014-15 as the base, GDP growth at constant market prices is expected to accelerate to between 8.1 and 8.5 percent in 2015-16.
• Inflation declined by over 6 percentage points since late 2013 which is likely to remain in the 5-5.5 percent range in 2015-16, creating space for easing of monetary conditions.
• The current account deficit declined from a peak of 6.7 percent of GDP in Quarter 3 of 2012-13 to an estimated 1.0 percent in the fiscal year 2015-16.
• After a nearly 12-quarter phase of deceleration, real GDP has been growing at 7.2 percent on average since 2013-14, based on the new growth estimates of the Central Statistics Office.
• Foodgrains production for 2014-15 is estimated at 257.07 million tonnes, which will exceed average food grain production of last five years by 8.5 million tones
• Foreign portfolio flows have stabilized the rupee, exerting downward pressure on long-term interest rates which is reflected in yields on 10-year government securities and surge in equity prices.
• From a cross-country perspective, a Rational Investor Ratings Index (RIRI) which combines indicators of macro-stability with growth illustrates that India ranks amongst the most attractive investment destinations.
• It ranks well above the mean for its investment grade category (BBB), and also above the mean for the investment category above it (on the basis of the new growth estimates).
• In the short run, growth will receive a boost from the cumulative impact of reforms, lower oil prices, likely monetary policy easing facilitated by lower inflation and improved inflationary expectations, and forecasts of a normal monsoon in 2015-16.
• Growth in medium-term prospects will be conditioned the “balance sheet syndrome with Indian characteristics” that has the potential to hold back rapid increases in private sector investment.
• In the long-run, private investments will be the engine of growth. However, there is a case for reviving targeted public investment as an engine of growth in the short run to complement and crowd-in private investment.
• Expenditure control and expenditure switching from consumption to investment will be the key to growth in the short-run
• It calls for complementing Make in India initiative with Skill India initiative to enable a larger section of the population to benefit from the structural transformation that such sectors will facilitate.
• The Survey emphasizes on creation of a National Market for Agricultural Commodities in place of thousands of agricultural markets
• The Model APMC Act, 2003 should be amended along the lines of the Karnataka Model that has successfully introduced an integrated single licensing system.

Fiscal Framework

• The Survey calls for adhering to the medium-term fiscal deficit target of 3 percent of GDP. This will provide the fiscal space to insure against future shocks and also to move closer to the fiscal performance of its emerging market peers.
• It also calls for moving toward the golden rule of eliminating revenue deficits and ensuring that, over the cycle, borrowing is only for capital formation.
• Expenditure control combined with recovering growth and the introduction of the GST will ensure that medium term targets are comfortably met.
• In the short run, the need for accelerated fiscal consolidation will be conditioned by the recommendations of the Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC).
• The quality of expenditure needs to be shifted from consumption, by reducing subsidies, towards investment.

Subsidies and the JAM Number Trinity Solution

• Food Subsidy Bill stands at 107823.75 crore rupees during 2014-15 (up to January 2015) which means an increase of 20 percent over previous year
• The direct fiscal cost of select subsidies is roughly 378,000 crore rupees or 4.2 percent of GDP in 2011-12.  
• 41 percent of subsidy given for the PDS kerosene is lost as leakage and only 46 percent of the remaining 59 percent is consumed by households that are poor.
• The JAM Number Trinity – Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar, Mobile – can enable the State to transfer financial resources to the poor in a progressive manner without leakages and with minimal distorting effects.

Indian Railways and Public Investment

• The Indian Railways over the years has been plagued by host of issues. Some of them include underinvestment resulting in lack of capacity addition and network congestion; neglect of commercial objectives; poor service provision; and consequent financial weakness.  These have cumulated to below-potential contribution to economic growth.
• As a result, the competitiveness of Indian industry has been undermined. Calculations reveal that China carries thrice as much coal freight per hour compared to India. Coal is transported in India at more than twice the cost vis-à-vis China, and it takes 1.3 times longer to do so.
• The railways public investment multiplier (the effect of a 1 rupee increase in public investment in the railways on overall output) is around 5.
• In the long run, the railways must be commercially viable and public support must be linked to railway reforms. These include adoption of commercial practices, tariff rationalization, and technology overhaul.